Sustainable packaging queen lists $11m unit in Sydney’s tower of power

Kerry Gao, founder and chief executive officer of sustainable packaging company Oxypac, has put an apartment on the market at Sydney’s Crown Residences.

Local sources not authorised to comment publicly say the listing agents are seeking offers around $11 million. Gao purchased the two-bedroom, three-bathroom unit for $10.5 million in 2024, records show.

The residence for sale has an internal floorplan of 172 square metres, equating to around $63,953 per square metre of indoor space. There is a sleek kitchen with Wolf appliances, a butler’s kitchen, powder room, statement lighting, a balcony and floor-to-ceiling glass that offers Sydney Harbour views including the Opera House.

Oxypac has been supplying restaurants, cafes and takeaway businesses with sustainable packaging including paper bags, cups, lids, plates, takeaway containers, napkins and meat packaging since 2022.

Crown Residences is home to a smorgasbord of corporate heavyweights, rich-listers and millennial tech entrepreneurs. Billionaire Alex Birkenstock, heir of German cult sandal brand Birkenstock, and his wife, Vanessa, paid $51.5 million for a whole-floor apartment in cash. Lawrence Myers, chief executive officer of James Packer’s family office Consolidated Press Holdings, and his wife, Sylvia, also paid $70 million for the penthouse.

Bill Gravanis, co-owner of Sydney’s Luna Park, won’t have far to travel to work having paid about $36 million for an apartment in the complex. The Agency’s co-founder Steven Chen is behind these and other significant Crown sales.

Tasman Fallshaw and Anthony Kannis of City Living are selling Gao’s abode but declined to comment on any aspect of the listing when contacted by this masthead.

Expat’s new Sydney buy

Ben Way, the head of Macquarie Asset Management based in Hong Kong and New York, has emerged on settlement documents as the buyer of a $16.8 million Woollahra manor.

Transfer documents last week show Way paid the sum to Rebecca Gilsenan, the national head of class actions at Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, and Grant Marjoribanks, a former litigation partner at Herbert Smith Freehills who is now at Kardos Scanlan. They paid $7.62 million for the abode in 2020, records show.

A sold sticker on the listing for the four-bedroom, three-bathroom home revealed the sale price in February, however, it was left to settlement documents to reveal the buyer’s identity.

The circa 1930s, two-storey property, was renovated by interior design firm Handelsmann + Khaw for Gilsenan and Marjoribanks, with a marble kitchen taking centre stage. There are Venetian plaster walls and ceilings, hardwood floors and designer lighting.

Leisure zones include a stone courtyard and pool deck.

Way has been head of Macquarie Asset Management, a subsidiary of Macquarie Group, and a member of the company’s executive committee since April 2021, as stated on the website.

He steered their investment in data centre platform AirTrunk, founded by rich-lister Robin Khuda, and in 2020, Macquarie acquired an 88 per cent state in AirTrunk valued at more than $AU3 billion.

Matt Spooner of Buyers Market is understood to have represented Way but declined to comment when contacted by this masthead. McGrath Pyrmont’s William Manning and Kelly Samuels sold the property but did not respond for comment.

Bellevue Hill offering

A home in Bellevue Hill that last sold for about half a million dollars nearly 40 odd years ago, is back on the market with a price guide of $13 million, local sources have revealed.

Martyn Baker, the owner of a medical practice and the founder of a self-hypnosis company, bought the abode for $570,000 in 1988, records show. Approved DA plans lodged with Woollahra Council since 2000 reveal around $217,000 worth of alterations and additions including the extension of the ground floor living space, a new inclinator and landscaping.

The five-bedroom, three-bathroom, multi-level residence has a preserved marble fireplace, a sleek stone kitchen and an overall white palette. Bi-fold doors lead to an al fresco zone with a tiered-level backyard, a pool, expansive deck and cabana.

Baker founded HypnoSport, a five-part program with additional sessions available to help young athletes reduce and manage sporting anxiety,in 2024.

Bellevue Hill is Australia’s most expensive suburb, according to Domain data, with regular top-end sales in the many tens of millions. The median house price is $11 million.

Residents include student housing boss Stephen Gaitanos, the co-founder of Scape Australia, and his wife, Emma, who paid $50 million for a six-bedroom home, and Westfield heiress Monica Saunders-Weinberg, who is transforming three properties into a compound.

Gavin Rubinstein and Evan Cheung of TRG are the listing agents for Baker’s house, and both did not respond for comment when contacted by this masthead.